Three motorized rickshaws for pastoral work in Mitú
The Vicariate Apostolic of Mitú lies in the Amazon region of eastern Colombia in an area covering over 54,000 km². Roughly a third of its population of 45,000 people live in the town of Mitú itself. The remainder live scattered throughout this jungle-clad region and most of them belong to one of the 26 different Indigenous tribal groups, each with its own language and its own particular customs.
Pastoral outreach here is difficult, owing to the vast distances and the Church’s limited resources. The infrastructure, not surprisingly, is poor and the road conditions inevitably difficult. There is something like 57 km of roads giving access to those communities still relatively close to the city, but apart from this, routes mainly consist of narrow tracks, negotiable only on foot. It can take several days to reach many of these Indigenous rainforest settlements.
It is vital for the Church to be close to the people and help address many of the social challenges, including suicide. The local Church wants to offer support and care and is also deeply concerned with encouraging local vocations to the priesthood and to the permanent diaconate, as well as the formation of catechists. Indeed, nowhere are our Lord’s words truer than here in the Amazon region, that “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Lk 10:2). But to ensure a plentiful harvest, the faithful need the nourishment that priests and catechists provide through their visits.
Bishop Medardo de Jesús Henao del Río, the vicar apostolic of Mitú, has shared that what would be extremely helpful for pastoral outreach in those communities that are not too far from the city itself would be if the Church could obtain some motorized rickshaws, that could carry several people. Three such vehicles would be an enormous help for the pastoral work in this area, since they are ideally suited to the road conditions and are a secure and effective means of transport. We have promised him $17,920 for the purchase of three of these rickshaws. We thank you in advance for your help!
